Friday, November 26, 2010

Gus Carpenter loves being a journalist, even if it’s not the easiest or most glamorous job in the world. He didn’t think his life would bring him back to Starvation Lake or to living with his mom, but playing hockey, having a girlfriend, and being involved with news keeps him moving forward.

Gracie McBride is found hanging high up in “the hanging tree.” It appears to be suicide, but Gus and his girlfriend, Sheriff’s Deputy Darlene Esper know Gracie seemed to be getting her life on track. She even had a boyfriend, of sorts. Was someone else to blame? Because of their jobs, Gus and Darlene can’t discuss what they each discover, so tension builds between them. And it doesn’t help that Darlene’s estranged husband is back in town. It sure makes conversation topics limited between the pair.

Author Bryan Gruley is passionate about his writing and he loves to write about a few of his passions: hockey, northern Michigan, and newspapers. He weaves what he knows within the chilly (it’s winter) fictional town of Starvation Lake. The multi-faceted characters hold their own on the page. What surprised me most with the writing was how the town and the game of hockey were also characters. I can’t imagine this story taking place in summertime Arizona with swimming as the sport. It would be all wrong. Gruley knows just how to develop hockey as a character as he does the speaking characters.

Gruley is the critically acclaimed author of Starvation Lake: A Mystery, and the sequel, The Hanging Tree. He’s also the author of the prize-winning non-fiction book, Paper Losses: A Modern Epic of Greed and Betrayal at America’s Two Largest Newspaper Companies. Secretly, though, he would love to be compared favorably to Detroit Red Wings stars Johan Franzen and Pavel Datsyuk. He’s been playing hockey since he was a boy growing up in Detroit. He’s also an amateur musician who sings, plays guitar, and composes his own songs.

The Hanging Tree held my interest all the way through. I enjoyed learning some things about hockey without needing to be bundled up for warmth on the sidelines of a rink. If you enjoy a good thrill ride, hang on when you open this book. I’ve read other books with a sport focus and always felt separated from the story when a game was described on the page. Not so with The Hanging Tree. It’s a great read.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Kristin is a very happily married, stay at home mother, raising two little boys. Kristin has been writing since junior high, loving all forms of the written word, including poetry, short stories, scripts and even music, but only in the last 6 or 7 years has had the inspiration and support to actually have her works published.

And now, that dream is coming true! With a wonderful team at PublishAmerica, to help Kristin realize this dream, and with the love and support of friends and family, she knows that this book can only do great things.

Please tell us about your current release, NyteBeauti.It follows the story of Desta Rayne, a young vampire girl, and her journey through darkness, despair, and ultimately, redemption.

What inspired you to write this book?My husband and I used to roleplay (online D&D style) and I fell totally and completely in love with the characters we'd created. So much so, that I could let them fade into just a memory. I HAD to continue their sagas.

What exciting story are you working on next?I'm working on the second book of the NyteBeauti series, Echoes of Rayne.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?Middle school-ish. I was about 13 or 14, and was going through a lot of emotional upheaval at the time. Writing became my outlet.

Do you write full-time? If so, what's your work day like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?I do consider myself a full-time writer, but I'm also a Stay-at-home-Mom, so between changing diapers, bottles, pizza lunches, and making sure the house is livable (I've given up on the concept of clean, at least until the oldest boy is moved out. Haha) I squeeze writing in whenever I can. And now that we're heading into the holiday season, I stare at my notebooks and wonder, "Will I EVER get this thing done?" Haha!

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?I have to act out what I'm writing. If I can't conjure the emotion of the moment, I usually scrap it, or rewrite it. Oh, and dialogs have to be read aloud, which often annoys my husband, when he's trying to work on homework, or watch a movie.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?An artist, of somesort. An author, a musician, a painter, an actor... Anything creative.

Anything additional you want to share with the readers?You can follow me on Facebook @ Kristin Roisin (There's a fan page, and a personal page) and you can find NyteBeauti at: Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com and Borders.com

Thanks for stopping by, Kristin. I wish you all the best with the tour of the new release, and with your future writing.

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Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Gretchen writes lush, sweeping historical novels. Always and Forever, set in Old Louisiana among the Creoles and the Cajuns, was awarded the Colorado Romance Writers Award of Excellence and an Editor’s Choice designation from the Historical Novels Society. Ever My Love, which continues the saga of the first book’s families, was awarded the Booksellers Best Award from the GDRWA. Gretchen’s latest historical, Crimson Sky, is a story of love and betrayal set in the old, old West. She lives in Texas with her husband and two dogs.

Please tell us about your newest release, Crimson Sky.Crimson Sky, a historical with romance elements, is a story about a love triangle. Nothing kinky, just lots of tender hearts. In the pueblos of the Santa Fe area, the people face drought and marauders, and then things get worse. The conquistadors march up the Rio Grande Valley, bringing metal tools, new seeds, new animals – new diseases and weapons.

Zia is a young mother of the pueblos, very much in love with her husband, TapanAshka. When he doesn’t return from the hunt with his fellows, he’s assumed dead. The reader knows he is not and we see him struggling with his injuries and with the Spaniard Diego Ortiz. TapanAshka wants two things: to get home to Zia and their son, and to exact revenge on Ortiz.

When the drought worsens and the pueblo faces starvation, the elders determine they will go to the Spanish for protection and food. Diego Ortiz, handsome and kind, offers Zia his protection and his love. She tries to love him back, but the cost of his love is her religion and her very identity as a Keres woman. She determines she must make her way without Diego’s protection, and then learns of his savagery at other pueblos. She flees.

Zia, Diego, and TapanAshka cross paths one more time for an emotionally satisfying ending.

What inspired you to write this book?The first time I went out west, we visited Bandelier National Park in northern New Mexico. You can see the ancient adobe ruins of a pueblo on the valley floor. You can climb the cliff paths and crawl into the people’s cave dwellings. You can walk beside the stream into the tall ponderosa pines. In an arid land, this canyon is lush and green and watered. I wanted to move in.

I started my research with Bandelier and expanded it to include the pueblos in the area. The people of Bandelier migrated only a few miles south to what is now Cochiti Pueblo. I am most interested in studying cultures in upheaval, at times of great change. The arrival of the Spanish changed everything for these people, sometimes violently, certainly irrevocably. I set my characters in ancient Cochiti and watched what happened when the conquistadors came calling.

What exciting story are you working on next?So glad you asked because I’m in love with my new story. Three sisters live in the wilds of South Florida when Miami was just a fishing village. Their mother is long gone, scandalously, and their daddy dies. Each young woman must find her way in the world. Jack is the moral compass of the story, the “hero” whose love and respect the heroine strives to earn. If judging by my sitting at the keyboard crying as I revise some of the poignant scenes, I guess this one is a tear jerker. It’s certainly a love story, but it’s also a story about hard-won integrity, and the pain of love and loss.

When did you first consider yourself a writer?I retired from teaching high school on a Friday. The next morning, I was at the keyboard, and I’ve considered myself a writer ever since. Even though what I turned out at first was pretty amateurish, I have ever since sat myself down at the computer and written, always trying to be better.

Do you write full time? What’s your work day like and what do you do other than write?I do write full time. I don’t know how women with children at home do it, but some of them manage to turn out manuscripts, too. As for me, my husband and I are empty-nesters and I have only him and two dogs to look after. I write anywhere from three to six hours a day, depending on when brain-fog descends. The rest of the day I do the usual stuff, go to the gym, cook, maybe even push the mop around. But my main pursuit other than writing is reading. That has been a constant all my life and I read several hours most days.

What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?I guess I’m not all that quirky. I’m not unusual in that I find it difficult to plan my stories ahead of time. Pantsers, we call ourselves, as in writing by the seat of our pants. But I’m learning to at least have some plot points in mind to guide me through. I suppose my novels are a bit different in that they are not purely romances, though they certainly do have romance elements. I’m interested in exploring characters against a broad canvas of social issues, and writing is most exciting when I feel the character leading me through her story.

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?A ballerina, of course. Then a fighter pilot in a sleek black jet streaking through the skies (it was the 50s – we all wanted to be fighter pilots). And then I meant to be a doctor. Well, I’m not built for ballet and, oh yeah, no talent either. I outgrew the fighter pilot stage when I found the pilots more interesting than the planes and just wanted to be the beautiful honey the handsome hero comes home to. And as for medicine, I still sort of regret that didn’t work out, but when I was in college and the first “review” week in Chemistry II was way over my head, I rethought my direction. All I really wanted, I decided, was to sit and read, so I changed my major to literature.

Anything additional you want to share with readers?What I hope for is that my readers come away from my novels with the feeling that the characters are/could be their very good friends, that they feel a close compatibility and empathy with them. I’m fascinated by the history behind each of my historicals, but that emotional connection is what I most want, both as a reader and a writer.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

It has been twenty-three years since five-year-old Becky was kidnapped. Abigail “Abi” Fisher is just as diligent today as she was on the first day in trying to find and reunite with her daughter. Abi looks at every young woman who crosses her path and wonders, “Is that Becky?”

Abi’s heart continues to celebrate, yet also break, as every missing child and every homeless young woman is identified or found, and is not her daughter. Five years ago, Abi met Joe. The two clicked almost instantly and they keep each other balanced through the emotional rollercoaster that each deals with in life. Just as Abi’s interest piques with a woman on death row, Joe becomes distracted with someone from his past. Abi struggles with pursuing her newest lead that may bring her to her long-lost daughter while supporting Joe in his need for discovery, too.

The author has created a protagonist that any parent, or anyone who cares about children, can identify with. The need to protect a child is overwhelming, and the character of Abigail has lived with the guilt of not being able to do that for the past two decades. Readers will quickly empathize with Abi’s wholehearted desire to find a positive resolution – a reunion with her daughter – especially as the time for the quest seems to have a deadline. The tightly woven plotlines combine with the fast-moving action to keep the reader on the edge of her seat.

Mary Deal is retired and living in Hawaii. She spends a most of her time writing, but ventures out to the beach every now and then. Along with her passion for writing, she enjoys oil painting and photography. She has four published suspense/thriller novels and is working on more. Her third novel, River Bones, won the Eric Hoffer Book Awards competition. She has also published short stories and poetry in various magazines and anthologies.

I find the title appealing since the pacing and tension has the reader hoping for answers along with the protagonist right down to the needle. Will there be a positive resolution before lethal injection is administered? Make sure you have time to read, because once you start, it’s hard to stop. Down to the Needle is a great read. Reviewer: Lisa Haselton, Allbooks Reviews.

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About Me

I'm a NH native and love New England. I love writing about the region, exploring it on foot, on my bicycle, and in my car. There are so many small communities and fun and interesting people in this area, that I could be here a lifetime and not do all it is I want to do. :)

I'm a moderator at The Writer's Chatroom that hosts live chats with guest authors on Sunday nights 7-9PM EST. Join the e-mail list to get notifications of upcoming guests, then stop in and join the conversation!